The Tietê River and Billings Reservoir

Every day in Sao Paulo, I crossed the Tietê River that runs right through the city. Rivers running through cities notoriously attract more pollution due to the increased population. Some days the stench of this river was unbearable. Water pollution can come from many sources such as non-point and point source pollution- downstream trash flow, water run-off (toxic cleaning agents, pet waste, pesticide runoff, etc), litter, erosion, and from businesses. I asked my host sister if the river was clean and safe to go in, and she said "no, no, no"! 

It made me question where São Paulo resident’s water supply was coming from. I was told that the river upstream is very clean, but once it gets to more populous regions it picks up all kinds of pollution. Efforts to clean up the river are in place, but even if the river is free of visible pollution, it still contains trace pollutants that have settled into the soils from industrial residues and domestic waste over the years. It would be a very tedious and expensive process to clean up, and would most likely consist of dredging which in some cases make the situation worse by stirring up toxins.

I learned from my research that the Tiete River basin and the Guarapiranga, and Billings reservoir are the main sources that provide water to the city. The Guarapiranga reservoir provides water for over 4 million people in São Paulo, but uncontrolled informal settlements with no water supply, or sanitation services, has led to water contamination. There is a potential threat of its viability as a future supply of water. SABESP is the largest and main water treatment facility for the city and initially focused more on providing water rather than sanitation services because water was the main community demand.

The Billings Reservoir is divided by land with one side for recreational use such as boating, swimming, fishing and the other side as waste water for the treatment plant. It was developed by Canadian engineer and is one of the oldest industrial areas of Brazil. There is a great amount of discharge from Billings to the river. Professora Waverli of Universidade de Metodista stated that, "drinking water may be better within 10  years."  

  

 "When you don't put a value on the environment, it is already destroyed."